


Ragged Memory

by KnightsofEclipse



Category: NCIS
Genre: Gen, Kate Lives, Not Canon Compliant, Plot subject to being completely retconned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-13 20:46:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12992208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnightsofEclipse/pseuds/KnightsofEclipse
Summary: Ziva has become the target of ever greedy man, woman, child, and organization on earth. It turns out, her father left more behind for her than just his position. It also turns out that her family is not at all what she thought it was. How is she supposed to do her job with cross hairs trained on her from all over the world? And who is that vaguely familiar girl following her? Set after Shiva but before Damned If You Do. DISCONTINUED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.





	1. Prologue

_“Call your old friends at the secret service. I will tell them all they need to know.” He produced a cell phone and held it out to me. “Take it.” He held it further out, I made no move to take it. “My Hamas are well trained. They will kill or capture your president and mine.”_

_Confusion lit up my face. “Your president?” I was 99% sure that Palestine did not have a president._

_“I am Israeli,” he clarified. “Mossad.”_

That wasn’t all that happened. It was just all that my team knew. No, a lot happened after I called the secret service and before I called Gibbs to come get me. Probably the most important thing to happen was that I learned his name; Ari Haswari. 

This next bit, you’re not going to believe. First, Ari wasn’t that bad of a guy. And second, he was on our side from the start. I don’t know what you already know from Gibbs so I’m just going to tell you the whole story. Stop me if you know something already so I can skip over it.

Ari’s father is the director of Mossad. They’re like the Israeli CIA. He was trained to be a mole in Hamas for Mossad. And the FBI were using him to take out Hamas terrorists in the United States. All the conflict Ari caused was to get in close with Hamas to be able to take them down from the inside. 

Now here’s where we get to the really crazy part. Just…just bear with me a little. Mossad had reason to believe there was something valuable somewhere in the US. They even had some weird old prophesy about it. The FBI got in on the hype and contracted Ari to decode the prophesy. 

What he found out was beyond wild. I won’t spoil it for you. Just know that they needed my help. And that I faked my death. And had to change my name. You might have known me as Special Agent Caitlin Todd. Well, not anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A young girl is found dead on a navy base. Meanwhile, secrets are apparently being kept between Gibbs and Fornell

“Come on, Rainy. The rest of us made it.” A young boy, maybe 16 years of age, waved from the distant bank. The water in the river was low, leaving the banks to overhang the rocky current like cliffs. Behind the boy was another of approximately the same age and a girl maybe a year or so younger. 

Rainy looked around, casting her glance over her shoulder like someone might be watching her. She was wringing her hands in a nervous fashion. “I don’t think we should be here. My dad always told me to stay away from the banks.” She took a half-step back. “Guys, we should go.”

The boy who had spoken before stepped back and took a run at the back, leaping and landing right in front of Rainy. “See, totally safe. I wouldn’t let Cara do it if it weren’t. What kind of brother you take me for?”

Rainy gave a soft smile. “Right, what was I thinking?” She placed her hands on his shoulders and guided him out of her way. Taking three steps back, she ran at the cliff and jumped.

Her foot slid sideways on the grass and three sets of eyes watched as her body fell, lifelessly, into the water. “Hey! Rainy, you okay?”

A few moments of silence passed before an annoyed voice carried through the dark of swiftly approaching nightfall. “You gonna stand up there gawking or is someone gonna help me? I think I cut myself.”

Several minutes later, the two boys were helping Rainy through her bedroom window. “You sure you’re gonna be okay?” the boy who had remained silent asked.

“Its fine, Jim. I’ll just tell my mom that I slipped and hit it on the dresser or something.” She pat Jim’s arm. “You guys should get out of here, if she finds you we’re all dead.”

Jim and the other boy climbed out the window. “Take care, Rainy,” Cara said sweetly as she jumped down into her brother’s arms.

Rainy slowly walked over and closed the window, waving to her friends. “You too, Cara.”

\--+--

Tony entered the squad room in a relatively good mood. It would have been a definite good mood if he had not had to listen to McGee the whole elevator ride up. Admittedly he had not actually listened, but just the buzz of the Probie’s voice had put a damper on what was a good day. 

“You didn’t hear a single word I just said, did you?” McGee asked when they both reached their desks. Ziva was already at hers and the topic of their conversation had piqued her interest.

“Trust me, McTalker, I heard you.” Tony pulled open his desk drawer and pulled out a pair of headphones. “Now, if you’ll all excuse me.”

“Nope,” Gibbs voice bellowed down from the third floor. He careened down the stairs to stand in the bull pen. “We’ve got a body on a navy base. Grab your gear.”

“There should not be any sailors on base,” Ziva said, grabbing a note pad and tossing her bag over her shoulder. “Sec Nav is supposed to be giving a speech at…” She flipped through the notepad to find the location.

Gibbs shook his head, placing his hand over the paper. “I never said it was a sailor.” His voice was soft and directed straight to her. “No,” he raised the volume to include the rest of the team. “Little girl was found dead in her bedroom this morning with a gash in her head.”

\--+--

“This it?” Gibbs asked. McGee was in the passenger seat, playing around with the GPS. After a nod, Gibbs got out of the car. “DiNozzo, McGee you check around, see if anyone saw anything. Ziver, you’re with me.”

Ziva and Gibbs walked up to the door in time for it to open and FBI Agent Fornell to exit onto the porch with a distraught woman. “Here he is now,” Fornell said softly, beckoning Gibbs over. “Mrs. Cooper, this is Special Agents Gibbs and David from NCIS.”

“Can you tell us what happened?” Ziva asked as gently as she could. 

Mrs. Cooper wiped a hand over her face and took a deep breath. “I went to wake her up and…and it’s strange, you know. Rainy is always up with the sun. It’s not like her to sleep late so I thought maybe she was sick. I was going to bring her breakfast in bed.” She covered her face with her hands, taking a few more deep breaths before letting them fall again. “There was blood from the windowsill to her bed. Her pillow is soaked.” Tears rolled down her face. “Who would want to hurt her?”

“Your daughter is named Rainy?” Ziva asked, her gentleness was gone.

Mrs. Cooper gave a smile through her tears. “Her name is Delaney. But her friends gave her the nickname Rainy when they were little. I never understood why? Something about her just made them think of rain.” She seemed a bit exasperated, like talking about her daughter was helping and hurting at the same time.

“Perhaps you might tell me more.” Ducky moved into the little huddle and offered a reassuring smile to Mrs. Cooper. “I’m a medical examiner but I have some experience in psychology. If you’d like, I might be able to get to the bottom of this association.”

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, taking a moment to get the hint. “Mrs. Cooper, this is Doctor Donald Mallard. He’ll take care of Rainy for you.”

“Call me Ducky. And if it’s alright with you, Mrs. Cooper, Mr. Palmer will make sure your daughter gets to NCIS safely while I make sure you get to lunch safely.” Ducky offered his arm as Jimmy darted passed to go deal with the body.

“Thank you, Ducky.” Mrs. Cooper sounded out of breath. “But, please, call me Nora.”

“Boss!” Tony’s voice called from the back of the house. “Found more blood!”

Gibbs jogged over to the back gate. “Ziva, get all the info Fornell has. See if we can’t send something ahead for Abby to get started on.”

“You’re looking a little run down. Don’t think Gibbs can manage without you?” Fornell teased lightheartedly as he tore some pages from his notepad. 

Ziva shook her head, looking off where Gibbs had disappeared. “I will be fit as a fraggle in time. Things have been difficult.”

Fornell nodded. “Fiddle. You’ll be fit as a fiddle.”

Behind the house, Gibbs followed the trail of DiNozzo-sized footprints in the sandy soil until he met both his agents behind the bush-lined perimeter of the yard. “Trail starts here,” Tony pointed out, the first few blood drops deeper in colour than the ones leading up. “Could be possible the little girl was out here when her attacker got her. Or the guy was bleeding and some of the blood in her room is his.”

“You find out,” Gibbs nodded, he didn’t seem as angry as he usually was when someone made an assumption. “Send as many samples off to Abby as you can.” Gibbs started walking further into the bushes. 

“B-boss, where are you going?” McGee asked, pausing from taking pictures.

Gibbs looked back, he appeared to be in some sort of daze. He shook his head clear, heading in the other direction to go back to Ziva. “Get that stuff back to Abby, Ziva and I will ask around.”

McGee and Tony exchanged a look. “Did you see that?” Tony whispered, afraid the boss had sonar hearing. 

“I’ve never seen him do that before,” McGee admitted. He took picture of the direction Gibbs had tried to head in. “You think something might be wrong?”

Tony shook his head, taking the few steps that Gibbs had further from the house. “I’ve seen him do that, actually. Long time ago.”

A look of realization dawned on McGee. “You don’t mean…?” he trailed off, afraid to voice it.

Tony nodded, walking back and clamping his hand on McGee’s shoulder. “Indeed, McOblivious. Indeed I do.”

When Gibbs got back to where he had left his female agent and FBI counterpart he found them both gone. A scan of the area led him to find Ziva sitting in the car, waiting patiently. He knocked twice on the window, making her jump slightly before she rolled down the window. “Anything?” he asked.

Ziva looked around, as if expecting someone to jump out at her. “Fornell was acting skippy after you left. Other than that, a dead end. Sorry, Gibbs.”

Gibbs walked around to the driver’s side and got in. “Don’t worry about it. And I think you mean jumpy.” Ziva gave an appreciative smile at the correction. “He didn’t give you anything? No notes? Clues? Leads? Anything?”

Ziva pulled out the pages Tobias had ripped from his notepad. “This is all information we could have gotten from our database. Palmer just left with the body. We will know more after autopsy.”

\--+--

“Don’t you worry, Doctor Mallard is going to take good care of your mom.” Jimmy was leaned in closed to the dead girl’s head which was laid, like the rest of her body, on the autopsy table. He walked around the table and re-prepped his tools. “You are a really pretty girl. Well, you were. You _are_ dead now. No offence, of course. Dead-dead people can be pretty.”

“Palmer.”

He jumped at his name, turning to look at the man entering autopsy. “I-I’m sorry, Gibbs.” He laughed nervously. “I was-I was just about to start the autopsy.” He held up a chart, indicating the things already found on the body. “I sent up whatever I could find under her fingernails and in the head wound. I just, gosh, I just can’t get over how young she is.” He screwed up his face and shook his head. “Who would do something like this to a little girl?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Gibbs sounded gentle. “The younger they are; the harder it is to see any conceivable reason for their deaths.” He clasp his hand on Palmer’s shoulder. “Take your time, Jimmy. Start the autopsy when you’re ready. And if you need anything.” He walked over to the doors, calling out over his shoulder, “call Abby for help!”

\--+--

“What have we got?” Gibbs re-entered the bullpen to find his agents all huddled around the plasma. They scattered slightly when the boss spoke, regrouping with notepads and the clicker for the screen.

“Delaney Cooper. Daughter of Nora and Ralph Cooper. Was born 16 years and 4 months ago in Canada. Her parents were vacationing, she wasn’t expected for another 2 weeks.” Tony flipped through some ID and family photos before passing the clicker to McGee.

McGee nodded as he took the clicker. “Ralph Cooper enlisted the same year Delaney was born and the family moved on base almost immediately. Since then he has been on 3 tours and is currently deployed on a 4th.” McGee handed the clicker to Ziva.

“Mrs. Cooper is an unemployed Navy wife and Delaney attended the nearest school, which is the same as all other children her age on base.” Ziva shifted around, clicking the clicker over the slides a second time. “This is all the same information Fornell gave me. We have yet to find anything more.”

Gibbs nodded, seemingly distracted. “Good. We’ll know more after autopsy.”

“How is Mr. Palmer doing down there?” Ducky joined them from the elevator, three teenagers following at length. “I will be on my way down to join him. I thought, though, that I might bring in some of our victim’s friends.” Ducky gave a knowing smile before toddling off to autopsy.

“You are?” Gibbs asked, towering over the ‘leader’ of the group.

The young man squared his shoulders and looked right up at Gibbs. “M-my name’s John. I’m, ah, I was a friend of Rainy’s.”

\--+--

The teenagers all sat around the conference room table. The leader, John, was wringing the seams of his baseball cap. He was the tallest of them, lean build with dark hair. He looked average, and had a face you could forget easily. To his right was his little sister. She was small, but build a bit bigger than the average girl. Her hair was a rusty copper colour and was tied up in two low braids. And finally to John’s left was another boy, thinner than John and shorter than the girl. He was blond.

Gibbs and Ziva sat across the table. Ziva flipped through her notepad, checking over the information they had been given. “You’re gonna find who killed Rainy, right?” the girl asked.

Ziva looked up and gave a soft smile. “That is our intention, yes.” Before she could say more, John cut her off.

“Course they’re gonna find ‘em, Cara. That’s what they do.” John put his hand on Cara’s shoulder.

Ziva scrunched up her face as she scrutinized her notes. “Your name is Melissa, right?” She waited for the girl to nod. “Why does your brother call you Cara?”

The smaller boy piped up. “Their Ma called her Mel til she was four. When I met them; I started calling her Caramel, like the candy. Over time it got shortened to Cara,” he shrugged. “They call me Jim even though my name is Josh.” Gibbs and Ziva exchanged a look.

\--+--

Abby moved around her lab, music as loud as ever, waiting for Gibbs to show up. “What’ve you got, Abbs?” McGee entered with is best Gibbs impression, eliciting a smile from the perky goth. 

She moved over to her displays and clicked a picture to enlarge it. “Well, McGibbs.” She laughed at her own mocking tone. “Apart from all the dirt and blood I got from the head wound, I was able to find minute traces of a metal alloy.” She clicked over to another picture. “This particular alloy is used to coat hunting knives. It looks like our navy kid was murdered.”

McGee walked over and clicked the first image again. “It doesn’t make any sense, though. A knife couldn’t make that kind of indent into the skull. I’m gonna grab Tony and head back to the crime scene, see if we can’t find a better solution.” He leaned in and kissed Abby on the cheek. “Thanks, Abbs.”

\--+--

Tony and McGee pushed low-hanging tree branches aside as they wandered into the forest behind the Cooper house. “So what are we looking for again, McTracker?” 

McGee disregarded the jibe. “A hunting knife. Abby thinks that’s what killed Delaney Cooper. But the indent is too deep. I wanted to take a look around and see if we maybe got something wrong.”

Tony nodded, knowing full well that McGee couldn’t see it. “And why, exactly, are we the ones out here doing the foot work? Shouldn’t the FBI be doing the manual labor? It was a civilian death, after all.”

McGee shook his head. “No, Gibbs think’s Fornell is up to something. He wants NCIS doing all the work and only telling the FBI what’s need to know.” They were now along the river, the water having diminished even more since the previous evening. 

Tony, by chance, glanced over the edge of the bank and into what was left of the rocky tide. “Uh, McGee. I think this might be need to know.”

\--+--

Fornell and Gibbs followed Ducky down the bank to the body that Tony had discovered. McGee had the portable AFIS out, a grim expression on his face. “This is Ralph Cooper, Boss, Delaney’s dad. Looks like he never made it to that last tour.”

Gibbs shook his head. “You find out what he was doing here.” The boom in his voice sent McGee packing as he rallied Tony to head back up the banks with him. “Time of death, Duck?” 

Ducky had the liver probe in hand and was glaring at it as if it had just said some rather foul words. “Well, according to the probe, Jethro, this man has been dead for weeks. But that can’t be possible. He should have departed for his tour. Unless something prevented him from deploying?”

“We’ll find out,” Gibbs said cryptically just as Fornell’s phone went off. “You gonna get that, Tobias?”

Fornell jumped slightly, barely, before nodding and taking out his phone. “Yeah, Fornell.” He waited silently while someone on the other end spoke. “Got it.” A moment more. “No, they won’t be a problem.” Another, followed by a furrow of his brow. “Just keep me informed.” He hung up.

“Who was that?” Gibbs asked. The two men rarely kept things from each other, even business. Hell, they even shared an ex-wife. Gibbs found it a little irksome that he had to ask.

“Just the head of a project I’m over seeing. Trust me, Jethro, you do not want to get involved with this one.” He shook it off a little too quickly as they walked back to their cars.

Gibbs gave a crooked smile. “Fine, fine. What’s it called, at least? So I know what to stay away from.”

Fornell gave Gibbs a measured look. “Kill Armor Terrorism Empire.” He hopped into his car before Gibbs could respond, leaving the NCIS agent with a confused look on his face.

\--+--

When all agents had returned to headquarters, Ziva was waiting with information she had pulled on Mr. Cooper. “According to his CO, Mr. Cooper never joined his troop. He was reported missing but the report was never sent back to base. When he failed to report for duty the first day he was written off as an RTB and forgotten about.”

Gibbs walked right passed as Ziva spoke. “Check with Abby. I’ve got autopsy.”

\--+--

“He was definitely beaten, Jethro. Unfortunately, the body is too old for there to be any indication of cause of death. Even if we could find a killer we wouldn’t know what to charge him with.” Ducky walked around the autopsy table to make a note on his chart. 

“There’s got to be something, Duck,” Gibbs countered. 

“ _Maybe I have something,_ ” Abby’s distorted voice came from the screen that linked the lab and autopsy via video conference. “ _The knife found next to Ralph Cooper in the river was the same one that cut Delaney. All the prints on it belong to Ralph. With this information I can recreate what probably happened to Delaney._ ”

“That’s good work, Abbs,” Gibbs yelled at the screen. “Anything for Mr. Cooper?”

“ _Not yet. His uniform suggests that he probably intended to join his troop. Something stopped him._ ” She came up close to the camera. “ _Hey, shouldn’t Fornell be here? The death of a civilian falls under FBI jurisdiction._ ”


	3. Chapter 3

The automatic door slid open as Abby traversed from her office to her lab, Caf-Pow in hand. She walked right past Ziva, to her computer, and double clicked on a video file. As the video, clearly made from an animation program, loaded up on the screen, Gibbs joined them. 

“While you were on your way down, the FBI contacted us. Agent Fornell is on his way.” Ziva looked troubled. The unsteadiness in her voice causing Gibbs to stop in his tracks. “The woman I spoke with said the case was being handed over to the FBI and that NCIS was to drop all investigations. I did not hear anything from Director Vance.” She crossed her arms and shook her head, trying to silently work out what could possibly be going on.

Gibbs clasped her shoulder, gently moving her aside so he could get to Abby. “We don’t drop anything unless we hear from Vance.” He gave a single nod to Ziva and she left. “What we got, Abbs?”

Abby hit play. The video played out that the large figure, Mr. Cooper, was already lying dead in the river bed and that the small figure, Delaney, fell and hit the blade that, at the time, had been stuck upright through her father’s chest. “It’s crazy, Gibbs. It’s like someone stabbed him with the hilt of the knife and when his daughter fell it dislodged and got knocked away. Unless someone moved the body there after she fell.” Abby pulled a face to express just how hinky the situation was.

The elevator dinged in the background and a second or so later Fornell entered the lab. “What’s this I hear about Ralph Cooper being found dead with his daughter’s murder weapon?” He stopped dead when he saw the uniform and hunting knife displayed on the table. “I’m gonna have to collect all this. FBI jurisdiction.” He started gathering the bags together.

Abby walked over - calm enough - before slamming her hand down on the table. “None of my evidence goes anywhere.” The look she gave Fornell could rival Gibbs’ death glare. 

Fornell withdrew his hand slowly, as if afraid Abby would bite it off, before calmly straightening his suit jacket and turning to address Gibbs. “If I did something to make you suspicious of me, just know; I’m not cheating on you.”

“No, just cheating us of information,” Gibbs replied smoothly. Abby crossed her arms. “You didn’t think we’d check the information you gave Ziva, did you, Tobias?” He approached his FBI counterpart and led him to Abby’s computer set up. “Care to share all you know, or do I need to go above your head?”

Fornell shook his head and pulled free of Gibbs reach. “Jethro, please. There is nothing to share.” He took another step back as, from over Gibbs’ shoulder, he saw Abby take a step forward. “And if there was, which I’m not saying there is, it would all be need to know.”

Gibbs took on the same approach he saved for dealing with politics. “This is a murder investigation, Tobias, its need to know.”

\--+--

Ziva typed haphazardly on her keyboard. The information she had received from her contact in the FBI had gotten her nowhere. “This man might as well be a John Doe,” she huffed to herself. She looked up and around the bullpen. It felt lonely and far too quiet without Tony and McGee. “How long must they take?” she huffed, again.

The elevator opened to reveal just the agents Ziva had been waiting for, both sporting grim expressions. “Please tell us you found something,” McGee said bleakly.

Ziva shook her head. “This man has no records. Are we sure he is even Navy?” She flopped her arms down onto her desk.

Tony scratched his chin. “Hm, only according to AFIS. Hey, McGee, can you pull up his ID?” McGee nodded and hit the clicker. The plasma displayed a relatively black ID form. “All we have is a name, date of birth, next of kin, and date of enlistment. Oh, and whatever those marks are.”

McGee rolled his eyes and zoomed in to the indicated marks. “Those are the tours he’s been on. But it is strange that we don’t have the usual medical history or assignment information.” McGee suddenly gasped and sat down at his computer, typing like mad. 

Ziva stood up and craned her neck to try and figure out what her comrade was doing. “What is it, McGee?”

McGee looked up, almost startled, and remember that his friends couldn’t read his mind. “Oh, right. Well, um, Gibbs would, well, he would want us to get the information any way we could, right? So I, well, I just thought I’d take a look at what the FBI knows.”

Tony smacked the back of Tim’s head, though lightly. “Then get to it, McHacker, before Agent Fornell gets back up here to stop you.”

\--+--

Fornell shifted uncomfortably as the elevator door opened and he and Gibbs stepped in. “Are you going to stay mad at me forever?”

Gibbs rolled his eyes and hit the emergency stop just as the elevator began to move. “Cut the crap. You think I don’t know when you’re hiding something? For Christ’s sake, Tobias, I know you better than our ex-wife.”

Fornell refused to make eye contact. “If I could tell you, I would. Trust me, this hurts me just as much as it hurts you.” He reached out and flipped the emergency stop off, breathing a sigh of relief when he felt the metal box begin to rise. 

“Proper channels never stopped you before,” Gibbs chided offhandedly.

Fornell shook his head as the elevator door opened and they emerged into the bull pen. “Not proper channels; national security.”

“Boss!” Tony called out from in front of the plasma. “McGee discovered why we couldn’t find anything on Cooper.”

“Oh boy,” Fornell sounded like he had just pissed off his ex-wife. He shook it off when he noticed Gibbs questioning look. “Nothing.”

Gibbs raised his eyebrow to encourage McGee to go on. “Uh, well, Cooper wasn’t…he wasn’t Navy, Boss. He was discharged under mysterious circumstances 8 months ago. According to the FBI’s database, he was part of an operation called Killing Armor Terrorism Empire.” McGee squinted at his digital assistant. “Killing…” He mouthed out the operation name a few more times. 

Gibbs turned to face Fornell, looked frustrated and exasperated. “What did Abby say last time you withheld information?”

\--+--

Director Vance exited MTAC, his expression locked in its usual state of command. Gibbs rose from his desk to meet the director at the bottom of the stairs. “Whatever it is you got us into, it’s under tighter locks than an atomic bomb. Just what the hell is it we’re dealing with here?”

“Navy who isn’t Navy. He was supposed to be on tour but he was killed before he could go. And we only found the body because his daughter fell on the hunting knife left blade up in his chest.” Gibbs shook his head, leading Vance over to the plasma. “No matter how we look at this, Leon, it doesn’t make any sense.”

“Maybe I can clear some things up.” Gibbs and Vance turned to see a young, Asian, woman joining them. 

“Whoa-ho-ho, Maya. Looking good.” Tony praised the FBI agent, circling her like a vulture. “To what do we owe the pleasure, exactly?”

“Agent DiNozzo,” she nodded, acknowledging him before turning her full attention to the higher-ups. “Ralph Cooper was sent for a recon training simulation on home soil. It was a covert exercise and his CO was not aware of it. It was CIA mandated, comes around every couple years. The fact that Mr. Cooper came out dead is just an unfortunate coincidence.” She nodded to the photo of Delaney’s head wound. “We can conclude that Delaney Cooper slipped and fell into the riverbed and hit her head on the knife her father carried with him as guns were not permitted on these sorts of simulations. She bled out. You don’t have a case. The FBI will be taking custody of the bodies.”

Vance cocked his eyebrow. “I just spoke with your director. He said NCIS would be read in to whatever it was that was going down.”

Maya calmly tilted her head as if trying to covertly crack her neck. “You have just been read in. I’ll be escorting the bodies now.” She didn’t wait for an affirmative and instead headed straight to autopsy.

Vance shook his head. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

Gibbs gave a half smile. “Let me try something.”

\--+--

Fornell sat down at Gibbs’ table. Gibbs brought over the promised prize for coming over and set it down in from of him. Immediately, Fornell’s face fell. “This is not the bacon I was promised.” He set his fork back down and distastefully pushed the plate away.

Gibbs good-naturedly gave the plate a light nudge back to his friend. “Come on, Tobias. It’s turkey bacon. It’s actually not half bad.”

Fornell stubbornly shook his head and beat his hand down on the table. “This is an insult. Which ex-girlfriend fed you this bullshit?”

“Not an ex,” Gibbs chuckled.

Fornell glared at the offending meat. “You mean that lawyer.” He titled his head like a dog being asked if he was a good boy. “She got something to do with you asking me here? If I recall; you and I are fighting.”

Gibbs gazed off as if he had no clue what Tobias was talking about. “An agent of the Bureau came by today. Took both the bodies. Now, I don’t know a whole lot about inter-organizational co-operations but with an open investigation running that sure sounds like obstruction, wouldn’t you agree, Tobias?”

Fornell shifted in his seat. “You won’t call her. We’ve known each other forever.” He began to fidget. “What happened to not getting personally involved in the case, hm? What’s so special about this one, huh? What’s different this time?”

Gibbs slammed his hand down. “What’s different is you’re getting in my way! You want to keep your secrets, that’s fine! But don’t let them interfere with my case!”

Fornell looked him in the eyes then calmly got up and started putting his jacket on. “I can’t be around you when you’re like this. Call me when you’ve calmed down.”

\--+--

Fornell got out of his car, checking over his shoulders again as he walked to his front door and fished for his keys. He swore loudly when his phone ran, jumping and yanking his hand free from his pocket. His keys and cell fell onto the pavement. Cursing more mildly under his breath he collected his items and answered the call. “Yeah?”

The other line ran static for a solid minute before he got an answer. “ _This may be worse than we thought._ ”

“How so?” He fumbled with his keys again, trying and failing to get them into the lock. 

“ _We’re not the only ones looking into it. I got asked some questions. People wanting to know what I’m doing here. You better keep a close eye on her. If this pans out how we think it will then there’s going to be a blood bath with her at the center._ ” The line went dead, not from the woman on the other end hanging up but from service being lost or a battery dying.

Fornell looked at his phone, noting it was fully charged and had service. “Hope that was all she had to say.”

\--+--

In a dark room, ducking behind a table, the woman slammed the phone against her hand repeatedly trying to get a charge. “Damn.” She looked around. “I sure hope they’re ready for this.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With animosity between NCIS and the FBI, there isn't a whole lot going on for Team Gibbs.

Things were slow at NCIS. Team Gibbs had not had anything in a solid week. Ziva angrily slammed her phone down and huffed. “They are black walling us!” she exclaimed to no one in particular.

Tony rolled his eyes. “Stone walling or information black out. Pick one, Ziva.” He pronounced her name with irritation. 

Ziva threw her hands out. “We are all frustrated, Tony.” She got up and started pacing. It was a very un-Ziva like action. She moved from one end of the bull pen to the other in quick, jaunty steps that contrasted her usually careful demeanor. “There has to be something we can do.” She was flailing her hands about as she moved. 

McGee looked up from his computer screen, the access denied pop ups reflecting in his eyes. “Ziva, you’re distracting me. I almost had it that time.” He waited for the female agent to stop moving, giving him a distasteful look, before going and plopping herself down on the corner of her desk. 

Tony rose and crossed over to McGee’s desk to take a look at the jumble of code the hacker had exposed. “You’re actually getting somewhere with this?” He sounded skeptical, his head practically spinning from trying to comprehend the mix of numbers, letters, and symbols.

McGee sighed and pushed against the desk, sending his chair back until it made contact with the cubicle divider. “No. But I’m bound to get lucky eventually, right?" Tony hung his head and Ziva rolled her eyes. McGee sighed again. “I didn’t think so.”

\--+--

“ _I can’t do anything from here._ ” 

That was the last thing Gibbs wanted to hear. He wince a little as his phone picked up static. “Well, how soon can you be back, then?” He shifted some things around on his work bench and poured more bourbon into his jar. 

“ _I’m on a pretty big trial right now. It could be weeks before I can get away._ ” There was the sound of paper moving about on the other end of the call. “ _Look, Mr. Gibbs, if you’re really interesting in going through the proper channels then I suggest getting a lawyer brought on with NCIS._ ”

Gibbs grumbled, “and what if Vance calls you in?”

He was greeted with silence. “ _If he finds someone else who is willing to fly across the country for this trial then I’ll consider it._ ” 

He didn’t even get a goodbye, the line just dropped off. Rule number 13 echoed in his head. He quietly contemplated if there was some reason why he had to be such a bastard, chalking everyone’s attitude towards him up to that simple fact. He glanced at his phone, the urge to call someone, anyone almost overwhelming. 

He dialed a familiar number and let it ring until the automated messaging system picked up. “ _This number is no longer in service…_ ” He hung up and set his phone aside, taking a swig of bourbon.

\--+--

Fornell pinched the bridge of his nose. His computer screen was filled with exposed code and pop ups claiming that someone was trying to breach the FBI. He looked over at his phone, wondering if he would have to make the call himself or if his NCIS counterpart would come to his senses on his own. 

As if he had willed it so, his phone began ringing. “Fornell.” He didn’t even wait long enough for the caller ID to be displayed.

“ _I have the location. I’m falling back to the US tonight. We need to regroup and plan how we’ll retrieve it._ ” Fornell was caught off guard by the urgency in his agent’s voice. He stayed silent, pinching his nose again in frustration. “ _Are you there, boss?_ ”

Fornell gave himself a little shake. “Sorry, Angel. I was expecting someone else. Rendezvous tomorrow morning, 10 am.” 

“ _When will I be taking full protective detail?_ ”

Fornell paused, realizing the wrench he had thrown into his own plans. “I’ll handle it.”

“ _That doesn’t sound too promising. If we screw this up it could end like it did before._ ”

Fornell shook his head, knowing she couldn’t see him. “I won’t let that happen. I have business to take care of. Angel, I expect a full report in the morning.” He clicked his phone off and sighed. “Well, fuck.”

\--+--

Ziva entered Abby’s lab to find the perky goth upside down with her feet resting next to Major Mass-Spec. “Um, are you alright, Abby?”

Hearing the familiar voice, Abby flipped forward and got on her feet before proceeding to tackle-hug Ziva. “I am so happy to see you! I have been so bored since the FBI took all my evidence away! We should do something! Like watch a movie or go shopping or paint each other’s nails or I can braid your hair or or or…” 

Ziva laughed, not really knowing what else to do. “That, um, that sounds great, Abby.” She waited for her friend to pull away.

“Is something wrong?” Abby furrowed her brow in a very Gibbs manor.

Ziva averted her gaze and wrapped her arms around herself. “Well, it is just…Tony is working on my last curve! We are all frustrated and bored with the situation but turning against each other will get us nowhere.” 

Abby nodded solemnly. “Tony has a funny way of showing that he cares, doesn’t he?” She wore a sly smile, like she knew something Ziva didn’t.

Ziva shook her head. “I do not follow.” She found her way over to Abby’s refrigerator and pulled Burt down from on top, hugging him close. 

Abby walked over by the plasma, clasping her hands behind her back and swinging them as she turned. “Did it ever occur to you that Tony’s just trying to take care of you?” She tilted forward and to the right, gaining an air of innocence. 

Ziva blushed, looking everywhere but at Abby. As her gaze wandered around the lab she noticed a red dot that seemed to shiver and shift around ever so slightly. She squinted at it before recognizing it for what it was and running for Abby to tackle her down. She was just in time as she heard the telltale snap of a rifle and the shatter of the glass door of Abby’s fridge. 

“Woah,” was all that Abby could get out. Ziva gripped hard to Abby’s lab coat, pinning the goth down, and glared up at the broken window right above them, shaking her head with disdain.

\--+--

Tony and McGee couldn’t get the elevator fast enough once they heard the shot. The piled in and waited impatiently as the door closed and they began to descend. “You don’t think?” McGee asked, staring ahead nervously.

Tony adjusted his suit jacket. “I try not to think, McGee. Ziva’s down there, Abby will be fine.” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

When the elevator door opened they didn’t even get out as Abby and Ziva practically fell in. McGee collected Abby into his arms and squeezed her like she was her precious farting hippo. “We heard gun fire. I’m so glad you’re okay!”

Ziva locked eyes with Tony and grabbed onto his hand, not allowing herself to rush into his arms. “Someone has made a grave mistake.”

Tony laughed nervously, using his grip on Ziva’s hand to pull her in close. “We’ll find who did this.” He gave her a confident smile. “You got the bullet?”

Abby produced an evidence bag. “Who do you think you’re dealing with?”

\--+--

“Are they okay?” Gibbs demanded into the receiver.

“ _You think I’d be sitting in my office if they weren’t? Come on, Gibbs, I care about them, too,_ ” the voice on the other end, Director Vance, said calmly. “ _They’re on their way to you. We’ll take whatever measures it takes. Whatever you need._ ”

“Call Allison. We need to hit the FBI with everything we have. Tell her we’ll lend her Carrie if we have to,” Gibbs barked as if he were talking to DiNozzo. “I’ll find out if the FBI has anything to do with the shooting, but after that we can consider them the enemy.”

“ _I hope you know what we’re getting into._ ” Vance hung up. 

Gibbs set his phone down just as he heard the sound of his front door closing. He rose, regaining his calm composure, and ascended the stairs to meet with his team. He stood in the doorway from the kitchen and when Abby saw him she ran at him and hugged him tight. “You’re safe here, Abbs.”

Ziva didn’t waste any time, producing the evidence bag from her pocket. “Do you know this bullet?” 

Gibbs let go of Abby and took the clear, plastic bag, holding it up to the light. The furrow of his brow and the darkening of his expression made Tony’s stomach drop. “Boss?”

Gibbs shook it off and handed the bag back to Ziva. “I don’t recognize it.” He took a couple steps away. “I need to call Fornell. Make yourselves at home.”

\--+--

[10 am the next morning]

Fornell got out of his car and slowly approached the building. He was about to ascend the fire escape when he noticed movement in the shadows of the doorway. “Angel?” he called, feeling unusually jumpy.

“No one else comes here,” she laughed. She made no move to show herself, as if she were a vampire and the sun would burn her up. “I have-”

“Someone shot at NCIS yesterday,” Fornell interjected. 

She stopped dead, remaining silent for a time before Fornell heard her slam her fist against the metal door. “We can’t waste any more time. I’m going after it.” 

Fornell shook his head. “Gibbs is on to us. I’ve tried to steer him off course but it’s only a matter of time before he’ll put it together.”

“Why can’t we get him involved? It will just make protecting her easier,” she sounded angry, but he couldn’t be sure with her face hidden in the shadows.

Fornell made a face commonly associated with indigestion. “I don’t want to cause him unnecessary pain.” He shook it off. “I’ll give you as much support as I can. Retrieve it and we’ll work out how best to carry out a protection detail.”

“Fine. But this is on you if it goes up in smoke.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the scare at NCIS it's slumber party at Gibbs' place. Too bad their dry spell is officially ending. What's waiting for the team at the end of this road?

Gibbs descended the stairs to find his living room full of sleeping agents. Abby had fallen asleep on the couch, face first, with her arm draped over McGee. McGee had dozed off leaned against the couch so that his head shared a pillow with Abby. Across the room, nearest to the TV, Tony was sleeping cross-legged with the remote still gripped tightly. In his lap, Ziva was flopped across him like a cat on a keyboard, her hand limply rested on the remote as if they had fallen asleep fighting over it.

Gibbs carefully picked his way to the kitchen and set in to making coffee. Despite the care he put into the perfect brew his senses were all focused on the room behind him. He was waiting. He wasn’t sure what he was waiting for, but he knew he was definitely waiting. He poured himself a cup when it had finished brewing and picked his way back across the room to check for the morning paper.

A bolt of movement through the front window caught his attention and he drew his side arm. Moving stealthily around the front door, he set his coffee on the shelf above the coat hooks. Never taking his eyes off the door he carefully opened it and looked around, keeping his gun down at his side. Laying on the front porch was an envelope addressed to Ziva. “Bastards,” he mutter as he closed the door and locked it.

Once more across the room, he seated himself at the table and pondered the envelope. After the Y. Pestus scare, Gibbs really didn’t trust mail. He turned it over, sipping at his coffee thoughtfully.

“Umphf. Gibbs?” Abby groggily rose into a sitting position, dragging her hand across McGee’s face as she did so. “Is that you? I smell coffee.”

“Yeah, Abbs,” Gibbs called good-naturedly across the room. 

Abby rubbed the sleep from her eyes and look around the room. “So, it really happened?”

Gibbs looked up, a gentle expression encompassing his features. “Yeah, Abbs,” he repeated. He wanted to lie to her. He wanted to tell her that no, no one had tried to kill her and Ziva. They were having a slumber party. This letter for Ziva wasn’t going to end their peaceful lives. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t lie. 

Abby reached down and took McGee’s hand from its resting place on his knee and pulled it up to hug. “What’s that?” She gave the kidnapped arm and couple tugs to see how asleep McGee was, eliciting no response.

“Letter. Was on the porch.” He beckoned her over and she took it from him, holding it up to the light. “What do you see, Abbs?”

Abby squinted at the now translucent paper, trying to make out what was written on it. “It looks like an address.” She set it down and proceeded to pick up Gibbs’ coffee and take a tentative sip.

It wasn’t long before the sunlight filtering in the window woke the rest of the team. “You did not need my permission to open it, Gibbs.” Ziva crossed her arms and tossed him a measured glance. 

Gibbs took this as a cue to slide the tip of his switchblade under the flap and rip across the top. Abby was right, it was an address. Gibbs even knew where it was. 

“Isn’t that the street address for the church on Capitol Hill?” McGee started drawing a map in the air before his face. 

“Because that’s not ominous,” Tony said dryly. “Shall we go check it out, McCafe.” 

McGee did a double take at the nickname, chalking it up to Tony not having had any coffee yet, and gave a firm nod.

“I will drive,” Ziva trumpeted, already diving for the keys to the charger. Gibbs quickly scooped them up. “Come on, Gibbs. I do not care if it is a trap. They are expecting me. I do not run from a fight.” Gibbs caved at the firm expression on her face.

He sighed and rose to his feet. “I drive,” he said firmly, walking passed her. Ziva’s face fell. “David! Quit wasting time!” 

“I’ll clean up around here!” Abby called as Ziva dashed after her team.

\--+--

Ziva was the first one out of the car, moving swiftly to the doors of the church and crouching below the low window next to them. Tony drew his side arm and followed close, using his body as a shield if anyone tried to attack from across the street. McGee and Gibbs trailed behind, keeping slightly more calm composures as if trying to dispel the suspicious actions of their teammates. 

McGee glanced through the window. “Sure looks empty,” he sounded skeptical. “There should be a back door. Should we…” He trailed off as Ziva rose and darted around the side of the building.

“That would be a yes, Tim,” Gibbs said in a slightly mocking tone. 

Around the side of the building there were two doors, spaced evenly, Ziva moved to the farther one and opened it, disappearing inside. Before it could close, McGee raced in after her. Tony’s brow furrowed as he opened the closer door and lead the way for himself and Gibbs.

\--+--

Every door she opened lead to another storage room or office. For a church, Ziva could not believe how much of a maze the building was. The last door in the winding hall opened up into the main hall, the room visible through the front windows. She stepped in, hand on her gun and stood stalk still watching. Movement in the shadows by the organ caught her attention and she didn’t hesitate to draw her weapon. “Federal agent! Come out or I will shoot.”

The form shifted, seeming almost to relax. “Ziva.” 

The Israeli woman shook her head. She could have sworn the figure had just said her name. But that was impossible. She was just paranoid. “What are you doing here?” She tried her best not to let her voice shake but something just didn’t feel right. Stanger things had happened than a ghost, she reasoned.

“I knew your brother. I knew Ari,” the shadow spoke clearly. 

Ziva gripped her gun firmly and tried to target what she could make out of the shape. The shadow was a woman - that much was clear - and she sounded American. But knowing Ari immediately made this woman her enemy. “A friend of Ari’s is no friend of mine.”

Just then, McGee came panting into the room. He was clearly not equip to keep up with Ziva. When he caught his breath he noticed her stance, fumbling to get his own weapon at the read. “What’s the threat?”

“I don’t mean any harm,” the shadow said.

McGee nearly dropped his gun, the shock rising up just as Tony and Gibbs joined them. “What’s going on?” Gibbs barked.

“She says she knew Ari,” Ziva hissed, repositioning again to cover her team.

McGee took a sidestep back and tapped Tony’s arm. “You’re, uh, you’re going to think I’m crazy but, well, I think that’s Kate.”

Tony shot McGee the most hateful look he could muster. “Don’t toy with me, McGee! Kate is dead.”

The front doors of the church opened and Fornell let himself into the party. “Oh good, you’re all here.” 

Gibbs holstered his gun and crossed his arms as he face his FBI counterpart. “Care to explain.” 

Fornell laugh nervously. “You know, I would, but I think actions speak louder than words.” He made a gesture to the shadow. “Come out, Angel, we’re made.”

The figure stepped forward just enough that she could clearly be visible in the light. A familiar face, wearing an even more familiar expression. “I’m not dead, Tony.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old face rejoins the team and not everyone is happy to see them.

“I’m not dead, Tony.” No, she was quite well, in fact. She felt giddy, like her insides were bubbling and she needed to laugh. But her face kept still, in a somber - maybe pleasantly amused - expression, never giving anything away.

Tony dropped his gun, flat out dropped it on the floor, and ran across the room and collected Kate into his arms. He spun her around and squeezed her and then put her down and showered her in kisses. “If I’m dreaming I don’t ever want to wake up,” he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers.

She couldn’t keep it in anymore. Laughter bubbled loose from her lips and she felt overjoyed and filled with sorrow all at once. “You idiot,” she barely mustered.

McGee took the few steps to place his hand on the barrel of Ziva’s gun. When she opened her mouth to protest she saw the tears at the corner of McGee’s eyes and quickly put the weapon away. She then turned to see how Gibbs was reacting. 

Gibbs was stunned. His mouth hung open. He couldn’t move. Fornell had taken to waving his hand in front of the agent’s fact, a normally dangerous act, to no avail. Ziva shook her head, feeling very excluded. “Would someone please explain what is going on?!”

Kate reluctantly broke free of Tony’s grasp and approached Ziva with far less caution that Ziva would have liked. “This is no place to talk. We must get you out of here and someplace safe immediately. Your life is in danger,” as she said the word a bullet passed between the girls, clearly a warning shot and not a miss.

The whole room moved in slow motion. Gibbs and Fornell got down where they stood. Kate tackled Ziva, making her body into a shield. Tony ducked behind the organ. And McGee slid back into the doorway he and Ziva had emerged from. 

“Angel! Create a cover! We’ll meet you!” Fornell shouted over the sudden barrage of bullets headed their way.

Kate nodded and rose to her feet, running at the bullets and dropping smoke pellets like she was a ninja. She caught sight of the dismay on Gibbs’ face as she ran passed but put the image out of mind to do her job. Their lives before her own.

 

\--+--

Tony paced nervously around the bull pen. His heart was still racing and he was afraid that she wasn’t real. “That…was really Kate?” he asked Fornell for the 900th time.

Fornell hung his head. “Yes DiNotzo, it was.” He had long given up on trying to explain that she wasn’t ‘Kate’ but ‘Angel’ now. “And stop that. She’ll be here.”

Gibbs hadn’t said a word. That bothered Ziva. She couldn’t explain what it was that bothered her about it, but it made her stomach tie itself in knots.

Everyone stopped what they were doing as the elevator opened and Kate re-entered NCIS after nearly 10 years. The triumphant smile she wore told them all how she felt to be back. 

Gibbs rose to meet her at the center of the bull pen. “Kate.”

“Gibbs,” she greeted in the same flat tone he gave her. She broke the stern silence with an almost nervous laugh. “What, no welcome home party?”

“Nope,” Gibbs sounded angry. 

“Gibbs, you have to talk to me. I’m not a mind reader,” Kate pressed, she was unamused by his behavior.

“No,” Gibbs said flatly. “You’re just a traitor. I watched you die, Kate! And you think you can just walk back into my life? No questioned asked? Who do you think you are?”

Everyone expected Kate to jump, or cry, but the traitor-agent simply smiled. “What do you want, Gibbs? An apology? And admission of guilt? You think I wanted to die? Do you really think I wanted to leave all of you? To watch you mourn me? You think that’s what I wanted!”

“You tell me, Kate!” Gibbs wanted to walk away. He wanted to turn his back on her and make her feel as hurt as he felt looking into her sad eyes. But he stood his ground. “Why did you leave us?”

Fornell cut in, having had enough of the screaming. “That would be on me.” He waited for them both to come down from their fighting stances. “It’s a bit to explain.”

\--+--

Abby paced back and forth in Gibbs’ basement. The room felt empty without a boat in it and Abby felt empty without knowing what was going on. She heard the sound of the front door slamming and before she could grab something to defend herself she heard a familiar voice calling down to her. “Abby!”

“Down here, McGee!” she called back, hopping over to meet him at the stairs. “What happened? Where is everyone? Are they all alright?” She clung to him, pulling on his arms and squeezing his shoulders.

McGee laughed, calmly disentangling himself from the perky goth and taking her by the hand to lead her back upstairs. “I have a surprise for you.”

\--+--

The elevator opened and McGee and Abby walked out, Tim’s hands covering Abby’s eyes. “Just a little further.” McGee motioned for everyone to make way so he could lead Abby to the center of the bull pen.

Kate took her cue, a calmer smile replacing the bitter one she still had for Gibbs. “Hi, Abby.”

McGee felt his palms get moist as Abby’s eyes watered. “McGee, this isn’t funny! I don’t know where you got a recording of Kate but playing it like this and not telling where everyone is is not a good game!”

McGee removed his hands to find Abby’s eyes squeezed shut. Kate leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Abby. “It’s really me, Abby.”

Abby opened her eyes and burst into the hugest sobs that any of them had ever seen. She squeezed Kate in a way that made everyone finally believe that she was really real and not going anywhere. 

Ziva crossed her arms and turned away. “I still do not trust her. She is not telling us everything.”

Kate pulled away from the death hug and cocked and eyebrow at the Israeli woman. “I will get to everything in time. Overloading you with information now will just hinder my efforts later.”

\--+--

Kate tried her best to be patient with them but it was definitely grinding on her last nerve. Gibbs had sent Tony and Ziva to a safe house. That was all fine and dandy except that Kate, herself, was supposed to be guarding Ziva. McGee and Abby had gone home. That left Kate to be ‘grounded’ with Gibbs. He wasn’t letting her out of his sight. And to further irk her, he was refusing to disclose the location of the safe house Ziva was stationed at.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about being stuck with Gibbs. On the one hand, she hadn’t seen him in years and it took all her willpower not to run into his arms and bury herself in his chest forever. But on the other hand she was still upset with what he had said to her in the bull pen.

“You can’t play silent forever,” Gibbs called from his work bench. “Gonna have to talk eventually.”

Kate pushed off from her seat on one of the ceiling beams and landed lightly behind him. “You gonna tell me why you’re really upset with me?” She casually ran her hand over a few pieces of wood. “I never meant to hurt you, Gibbs. I was trying to protect you. All of you.”

Gibbs dropped his façade along with the chisel he held and collect Kate, finally, into his arms. “I never wanted to lose you, Kate. I can’t stand the thought of that happening again.”

Kate gave a soft sigh and let the trickle of tears fall down her face. “It won’t. I’m not going anywhere now. I’m home.”


End file.
